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TWO DEATHS, TWO COVERS: As reported by WWD last week, Vanity Fair has produced two different covers on the deaths of Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett for its September issue. Both covers will be shipped at random to subscribers and to newsstands beginning Wednesday. “Two covers seemed like the sensible thing to do, given the passing of two major American icons on the same day,” said editor in chief Graydon Carter. The Jackson cover will include a 1989 photo of the singer shot by Annie Leibovitz with an accompanying retrospective from contributing editor Lisa Robinson. Over the years, Robinson had interviewed the singer several times for a variety of publications.
Leslie Bennetts was already at work on a story about Fawcett when the actress died after a long battle with cancer on June 25, hours before Jackson passed away after collapsing at his home. The Fawcett piece will run with a cover photo by Bruce McBroom taken in 1976 on the same day she was photographed in her famous red bathing suit, an image that would adorn walls of boys’ bedrooms around the globe. The exposé is said to include details on Fawcett’s relationship with longtime partner Ryan O’Neal, and interviews with Ryan, Tatum and Griffin O’Neal.
The cast of “Mad Men” initially was scheduled to appear on the September cover, but instead actors from the AMC show will appear inside the issue in a photo portfolio shot by Leibovitz.
— Stephanie D. Smith
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